


Sweater Weather

by siderealSandman



Series: Miraculous World [1]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Cameo by the Author's OC's getting Punched By Ladybug, Dorky Sex, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, Ladybug in New York, Post-Canon, miraculous!nino
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-03
Updated: 2017-06-03
Packaged: 2018-11-08 10:47:23
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,532
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11080002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/siderealSandman/pseuds/siderealSandman
Summary: Being a superhero didn't end with Hawkmoth's defeat, but even as Marinette found herself defending a strange city with her new teammate, living with Nino felt more like home than she ever could have thought.





	Sweater Weather

**Author's Note:**

> Belated Ninette Week/Think Outside the Love Square smut

Designs tucked under one arm and a bag of groceries dangling from the other, Marinette fumbled with her keys for a full minute and a half before the door swung open of its own accord and a wave of tomato and basil wafted out to meet her.

“Open,” Nino said, holding out a spoonful of brimming tomato sauce for Marinette to sample as she waddled in, passing him the grocery bag as she did. Marinette arched up on her tiptoes, thoughtfully smacking her lips as she sampled the sauce.

“Good…but-”

“More basil, right?” Nino said, reaching down and wiping sauce off the corner of her mouth with the corner of his apron.

“Yeah, that should do it,” Marinette said, dropping her bag on the kitchen table as Nino fished the roll of “French” bread out of the grocery bag with one hand while sprinkling some more dried basil in the sauce with the other.

“Little wine too?” Nino said, pulling out the bottle of merlot and looking over the rim of his glasses at the label. “Nah, this is too good to cook with; we should break out the-”

Marinette took the bottle from him, jabbed a steak-knife into the top, and yanked the cork out in one fluid motion. Nino’s eyebrow arched over the rim of his glasses as she took a long drink straight out of the bottle, wiped her mouth on her sleeve, and offered the bottle to Nino.

“So it was one of _those_ Fridays, was it?” Nino asked, taking a sip out of the bottle and passing it back to Marinette.

“You have _no_ idea,” Marinette sighed, ripping off a hunk of bread and dunking it in the pot of sauce on the stove. “Two finals due in two days and the workrooms at school are packed.”

“Yeesh, you gotta work still?” Nino asked.

“A little bit,” Marinette said, taking a huge bite out of her sauce soaked bread with an approving nod. “ _Perfect_.”

“Thank you,” Nino said, giving the sauce a stir as Marinette filled a second pot with water and placed it on the stove. The chill of the evening was beginning to sink in, the heat from the kitchen steaming up the windows as the skies outside darkened.

“ _Gabriel_ isn’t giving you too much of a hard time?” Marinette asked, fishing a packet of spaghetti out of the bag.

“Nah; just a couple of shoots in the afternoon and some post-production touch up work,” Nino chuckled, pouring himself a glass of wine. “I think I’m getting better at Photoshop than I am at taking pictures at this point.”

“Don’t tell me it’s only taken you a year to get jaded with the ugly world of fashion,” Marinette chuckled, bumping Nino’s hip and wineglass with hers.

“It’s a wonder how you and Adrien don’t get burned out,” Nino said, taking a thoughtful sip of wine. “I mean, how do you deal with the fact that your designs might-”

Nino trailed off as his and Marinette’s phones buzzed simultaneously. Sharing a glance, Marinette checked her phone with a small groan.

“Don’t tell me,” Nino sighed, turning his sauce off and covering it. “Our friends are at it again?”

“Uptown,” Marinette groaned, taking another long sip of wine straight out of the bottle. “Police are on the scene…god, I _so_ did not need this today!”

“Do we ever need it?” Nino asked, putting two fingers in his mouth and whistling. “ _Pfaau!_ Shake a tailfeather, dude, we got work to do!”

A small blue figure crawled out from under a blanket on the couch, squinting at Nino as he affixed the fan shaped charm to his belt buckle. “ _Must_ we? I just got comfortable.”

“Join the club,” Marinette said, as Tikki flitted out from her bag. “Dinner when we come back?”

“Looks like we don’t have much of a choice,” Nino sighed as Marinette donned her black and red supersuit. “Five Deadly Venoms…more like Five Deadly Pains In My Ass.”

“I know they can’t feel pain, but I’m gonna hit em _extra_ hard today,” Ladybug groused. “You okay doing the press release again?”

“Sure sure,” Nino said, now clad in the blue and black coat of the Peacock Miraculous.

“Thanks; I’m bi a lot of things, but lingual isn’t one of them,” Ladybug said, blinking. “Wait…did I just say that out loud?”

“Fraid so,” Paon chuckled, opening the window as the cold New York evening blew into their apartment. “Ready?”

“As I’ll ever be,” Ladybug sighed. “Let’s get this over with.”

* * *

If Marinette had thought renting an apartment in Paris was thorny, the New York real-estate market made her wish she had stayed home and sent Adrien and Alya in her place.

As much as Adrien offered to help foot the bill for a fancier flat, she and Nino were content to live within their means, using the funds already availible to them. It took the two of them three months of searching to land on a modest one bedroom apartment that didn’t absolutely destroy their combined monthly budget. It wasn’t perfect by any stretch of the imagination; there was no air conditioner, the heater didn’t work, and it took them a week and a half to identify and fix the leaky pipe under the sink.

But in many ways, it was starting to feel like home.

Nino, chivalrous as ever, ceded the only bedroom to Marinette after a game of Mario Kart he _clearly_ threw on purpose, even though she was leading by half a lap. She repaid him by fishing out a vintage looking Pink Floyd poster on one of their many trips to the thrift stores, hanging it over the decorative fireplace opposite the futon Nino crashed on at night. While getting their daily pastry fix was harder than usual, the family market down the street forced them to actually cook for once in their lives (in three months, they went from ramen and Hot Pockets, to baked rigatoni that earned them compliments from Mrs. Esposito who lived across the hall).

But New York was no Paris, and no matter how hard they tried, being forced to move halfway across the world was harder than she thought it would be.

They thought that Nooroo’s rescue would mean the end of their headaches, but in fact it was just the beginning. After Hawkmoth’s defeat, a quintet of Miraculous users calling themselves the Five Deadly Venoms attacked New York, Tokyo, and Paris respectively, looking to possess and ultimately corrupt Miraculi still unaccounted for. Faced with the possibility of more threats than they were equipped to handle, the formerly unified Team Miraculous was in a bit of a quandary. After waiting in vain for more heroes to reveal themselves, they realized the increasingly global problem of supervilliany could only be solved by splitting up. Someone needed to prevent three of the world’s major cities from falling apart, and after some careful deliberation and analysis of their enemies’ skills, they decided to split along some decidedly unconventional lines. While Adrien and Alya battled the shifty, duplicitous King Cobra in Paris and Nathanael and Chloe’s band of teenagers dealt with Centipede and Gila Monster in Tokyo, Marinette and Nino were left to confront the relatively straightforward duo of Scorpion and Toad.

It was the right decision to make at the time, but it wasn’t easy; least of all for Nino and Alya who ended their budding relationship to spare each other pain down the road. No one knew how long it would take to erase the new threats facing the world, and someone had to be there to train the next generation of Miraculous holders as they appeared. Already, the Bee and Butterfly had begun training a veritable squad of teenagers with attitude based out of Shibuya, and if Master Fu’s predictions were correct, even more Miraculi were bound to appear in response to these new threats.

For now though, it was just Ladybug and Paon keeping a foreign city safe.

* * *

“ _You got eyes on them?”_ Paon’s voice chirped in their communicator.

“I saw the Empress near Wall Street last I checked,” Ladybug replied, swinging off a ledge as a crowd of tourists snapped photos and cheered her on from below. “She had a small squad of those Pawns with her; I think they were going for one of the older banks!”

“ _You think she’s looking to make a withdrawal that she hasn’t earned?”_ Paon chuckled.

“No doubt looking for a _miraculous_ payday,” Ladybug snorted, watching a blue and black clad figure leap across a building in the distance. “You got eyes on Arrowhead yet?”

 _“Haven’t seen him since I chucked him in the Hudson,”_ Paon clucked. _“Wonder if our froggy friend can swim?”_

“Wouldn’t put it past-” Ladybug let out a small cry as an arrow darted past, missing her head by a few scant inches and embedding in the building behind her. The attack did no damage, but jarred her enough that she nearly hit a lamp post, skidding to a stop on the sidewalk as a crowd of people scattered.

“Guess who?” Arrowhead croaked, drawing another arrow from his quiver and nocking it in his bow. The young man was dressed neck to toe in a fitting bodysuit with a red torso and black legs. Over his eyes, a pair of heavy black goggles magnified a pair of amphibian eyes as he set his sights on Ladybug. “River’s so icy this time of year, I pretty much just skipped off the surface; might want to tell your boyfriend to deep fry me and eat me next time…get it? Get it, like…cause you’re French and…like frog legs…you guys eat frog legs…do you get it-”

“I _get it!_ ” Ladybug huffed, twirling her yo-yo around to deflect another shaft off into a tree. As the tip sunk into the maple, it began to crack, blacken, and wither at a rapid pace. “And for the _thousandth_ time, Paon’s not my-”

As if on cue, a gust of wind knocked Arrowhead off his balance, sending him tumbling into a construction zone as Paon landed feather-light by her side in a fighting stance.

“Maybe we _should_ eat this guy this time,” Paon chuckled, tailfan extended and ready to intercept incoming attacks. “Save us a lot of trouble, wouldn’t it?”

“Something tells me Empress would be even more irritable,” Ladybug chuckled, glancing down the street where a swarm of scorpion-armored Pawns seemed to be preventing the police from entering the bank. “Can you keep him off my back?”

“I think I can handle _Monsieur Grenouille_ ,” Paon chuckled as Arrowhead crawled out of the rubble. “What’s the record now, froggy? I think we’re at ten to two in my favor.”

“Yeah, thanks for reminding me,” Arrowhead mumbled, drawing another shot. “Really hurts my feelings, you know?”

An arrow spiraled towards Ladybug’s back but was quickly batted aside by a gust of wind from Paon. People on the streets cheered, hurling garbage at the archer as he turned his attention to Paon himself, but Ladybug was halfway down the street before Arrowhead could return his attention to her. With a swinging kick, she planted her feet in the chest of the nearest Pawn, knocking him to the ground and reverting him to his usual construction worker self. Empress’ pawns were numerous, sure, but a well placed kick in the chest could knock any one of them over and turn them back to their civilian selves. In that sense, Ladybug had become quite good at delivering rapid chest-strikes, hard enough only to snap the people of New York out of their trance. As the armor melted away from the bodies of several Pawns, Ladybug crashed into the bank into a chaotic heist. Half the tellers had been brainwashed by Empress and the wielder of the corrupted Scorpion Miraculous was directing the show, forcing her minions to rifle through hundreds of safety deposit boxes.

“Robbing a bank? Isn’t this a little hackneyed?” Ladybug said, landing in a low crouch as the Empress turned, regarding her with cold yellow eyes. “I mean, why not kidnap some maidens and tie them to railroad tracks if you’re going to do the supervillain clichés?”

“…can you just let me have this one?” Empress sighed, accepting a leather box from a Pawn and raising her stinger-tipped staff in Ladybug’s direction. “You’ve snatched the last _ten_ Miraculi from my grasp; it’s hardly _sporting_ at this point.”

“Interesting proposal,” Ladybug said, snapping her yo-yo out at Empress’ head. “Funnily enough, _I don’t care!”_

“Missed,” Empress chuckled, not realizing Ladybug had latched her yo-yo onto the teller cage and was pulling herself towards Empress’ face, feet first with a malicious glint in her eye.

* * *

“ _No more questions, thank you_!” Paon said, waving at the crowds of reporters as Ladybug latched onto the top of the nearest building, wrapping her arm around Paon’s waist and yanking them both up at high speed. As they reached the apex of the yo-yo’s reel, Ladybug wrapped her arms around Paon’s chest as he began to glide, almost effortlessly across town towards their apartment building. It was dark enough that no one saw the inky blue and black figure glide into the loft window.

“That went better than I thought it would,” Nino sighed, happy to be able to slip back into French as Marinette opened the leather box. Inside, a small bracelet with a wolf embossed on it glittered up at her, no doubt the treasure Empress wanted to steal and corrupt for her own inscrutable ends.

“I guess,” Marinette sighed, running a hand through her hair as she traipsed aimlessly down the hall.

“I mean, as far as our time anyway,” Nino said, dipping a finger in the lukewarm sauce. “I think we did pretty-”

Marinette’s bedroom door closed with a small _thunk,_ leaving Nino alone in the kitchen with his thoughts. Strange to say, but Marinette had been off all day. Even as she had walked out that morning, she had done so under a pall of uncharacteristic taciturn that made Nino just a little bit uneasy. Marinette was a positive person, sure, but after a year together he could tell when something was eating at her. Usually that could be resolved with a little extra TLC, but her mood only soured after the battle with the Venoms, turning downright withdrawn as she practically fled the scene faster than she usually did.

Before he could muse on it further, his phone buzzed on the countertop again. Fearing a second attack in the same day, Nino was happy to see a picture of a fox winking back up at him, and answered it without hesitation.

“ _How you doin?”_ Alya said in the same terrible New York accent she had greeted him with every day since he moved to the States.

“Better than your impersonation of average New Yorkers,” Nino chuckled.

“ _Bite me,”_ Alya said sweetly. “ _See you and Mari had another run in with the oddest supervillain couple since Rita Repulsa and Lord Zedd.”_

“Right when I was about to put the noodles on,” Nino said, reigniting the water for the spaghetti.

 _“Still got the Miraculous though,”_ Alya said approvingly. _“Has one of Nath’s little butterflies come by to collect it?”_

“Not yet, but I’m sure they’ll be here soon,” Nino said. “Where’s this one going?”

“ _No word from Master Fu, but I think he’s sending it to London,”_ Alya said. “ _Either way, it’s getting dropped off here before the unfortunate mailboy returned to Tokyo.”_

“I’ll keep an eye open then,” Nino said, biting the inside of his cheek. “Hey, has Nette seemed…off to you lately?”

“ _Haven’t talked to her since yesterday but…yeah, she seemed a little on edge for some reason,”_ Alya said.

“She didn’t tell you why?”

“ _You know how it is; “ **Oh no, Alya, I’m fine! Just a little tired! Anyway how’s your internship going?** ” _Alya said in a startlingly accurate rendition of Marinette’s voice. _“Doesn’t want to foist her problems off on people, I guess.”_

“Still…” Nino said, glancing at the door to Marinette’s room a little uneasily. “I mean…she usually just covers it up with forced cheeriness, but she just kinda shut herself in when she got home.”

 _“Hm…sounds like something’s really eating at her,”_ Alya said softly. _“I mean, don’t push her or anything, but-”_

“Yeah, if I learn anything, I’ll let you know,” Nino said, taking a sip out of his wine from earlier. “How’s Adrien?”

 _“Doing better,”_ Alya said. “ _Getting over his latest slump.”_

“That what you call that Portuguese model he was hooking up with in January?” Nino chuckled.

 _“Oooh, Transatlantic Burn!”_ Alya snickered. “ _All seriousness, though, I think his period of…dalliances is coming to an end.”_

“That’s good,” Nino said, glancing at a photo the four of them took before they left. He knew that Adrien’s penchant for speed-dating was a shallow attempt to get over his unfulfilled crush on Ladybug and Marinette, and it was only a matter of time before he realized bedding beauty queens couldn’t quite satisfy his needs the same way a girlfriend or boyfriend might. He was a romantic at heart, and Nino couldn’t quite see him satisfied unless he had a sole lover to lavish his attentions on. “He needs to stop sleeping with people who don’t care about him.”

“ _Agreed_ ,” Alya said. _“Especially when…”_

“Hm?” Nino asked.

There was a moment of silence before Alya spoke again with a small sigh. “ _I…okay…look…we…you know how...”_

“You gonna spit it out or do I have to guess?” Nino laughed, leaning against the counter.

“ _Well…you know how Adrien likes to flirt, right?”_ Alya said.

“Right.”

“ _And you know how…I kinda like to flirt too, right?”_

“Intimately,” Nino said, already 80% sure he knew where this conversation was headed.

 _“So, we’ve been…kinda sorta…lowkey…flirting with each other for a while now,”_ Alya laughed. _“And up until now, it’s been kinda just for fun but...well, let’s just say we’ve both been escalating our game, and neither one of us seems to be chickening out.”_

“O…kayyy,” Nino said, blinking. It was hardly a surprise that two flirting dynamos inhabiting the same space for almost a year wouldn’t turn on one another eventually. And the more he thought about it, the more his hot nerd of a best friend and his hot nerd of an ex seemed to match up. “So are you two like-”

 _“I don’t know,”_ Alya said, voice jittering a little bit. “ _Gabriel has this function they’re throwing tomorrow, and he invited me along as his date for the evening.”_

“Ooh my,” Nino said, shouldering his phone as he strained the noodles. “And you didn’t make up an excuse to get out of it like you usually do?”

“ _Let’s just say I’m getting more than just my eyebrows waxed_ ,” Alya laughed a little nervously. “ _Shit, sorry, is this TMI?”_

“No, why would it be?”

“ _I dunno…it’s just…he’s your best friend, and we used to date, and-”_

“Alya,” Nino said softly. “You’re a grown-ass woman and we haven’t dated in almost six months now; you don’t need to clear anything with me or anything.”

 _“I’m not asking for permission or anything,”_ Alya snorted. “ _I just…want things to be honest between us, you know? I didn’t want you to hear it from someone else, or think I was trying to hide stuff from you. I…want us to be good, you know?”_

“We’re good, Al,” Nino said. “We’re always gonna be good.”

“ _…thanks,”_ Alya said with a small, audible sigh of relief. “ _There’s a chance I might be misreading this, so nothing might even happen-”_

“Please,” Nino chuckled. “You wear that black dress you wore to that concert we went to that one time and he’ll be eating out of the palm of your hand.”

 _“…see, I knew calling you would be a good idea,”_ Alya said. _“I may win this little game of ours yet~”_

“Atta girl,” Nino chuckled, pulling some bowls down from the cabinet. “I’ll let you know how things go with Marinette.”

_“Kay; let me know when Nath’s messenger picks up the-”_

A sharp knock on the window drew his attention to a levitating figure, dressed in a white tunic and wearing winged sandals looking in expectantly. Putting the phone down, he grabbed the Miraculous off the counter, cracked the window open, and passed it to the akuma with a crisp nod. He saluted, and before Nino could blink, he was a small, white dot on the horizon, racing across the Atlantic.

Nino’s phone buzzed again, this time showing a picture of Chat Noir winking at the camera.

“Yello?” Nino said, rolling his eyes with a fond smirk as he headed back to the kitchen. “Youuuuuu want to talk to me about Alya? Really? I never would have guessed…”

* * *

_Knock knock knock._

“Door’s open!” Marinette called softly, not looking up from her designs. There was a shuffling of plates and glasses as Nino fumbled with the doorknob, eventually wiggling his way in with a bowl of spaghetti balanced on a wine glass with a chunk of bread sticking out the top.

“Pasta’s getting cold,” Nino said, placing the bowl and the glass on Marinette’s desk next to her. “Figured you were in the middle of a design blitz, so I figured I’d-”

“Y-Yeah, it smells great!” Marinette said, pushing the half-finished sketches to one side as she pulled the bowl in front of her. She half-hoped that Nino wouldn’t notice the fact that the sketches she had been staring at futilely for the last half-hour were the same sketches she had been working on all week; no difference, no progress. But Nino was an observant guy; she wouldn’t be surprised if her recent gloom hadn’t been picked up by his fine-tuned emotional radar and the reason he wasn’t insisting that she join him was out of consideration. He had a supernatural sense that seemed to tell him exactly what she needed and when; that was the only explanation for the myriad of small kindnesses he showed her when she was feeling down. Anything from picking up her favorite ice-cream when it was midterms, to bringing her dinner when she was stewing about her life over the past year; no matter how content she was to be in a bad mood.

The more she lived with him, the more she realized she wouldn’t have lasted as long as she had if it wasn’t for Nino.

“Burning the midnight oil?” Nino asked, leaning against her doorframe.

“Mmhmm,” Marinette said, wiping the stray sauce on her lips with a piece of bread. “Lotta stuff to do so probably won’t be any fun tonight.”

“S’cool,” Nino shrugged. “I was gonna dick around in Garage Band for a while; maybe boot up the Gamecube if you feel like getting spanked at Mario Kart.”

“As much fun as a good spanking sounds-” Marinette said, flushing as Nino raised an eyebrow. “I-I mean…oh, you know what I meant.”

“Do I?” Nino said with a small smirk. “You’re not hiding _50 Shades of Grey_ under your pillow, are you?”

“Shut up!” Marinette laughed in spite of herself, hucking a breadcrust at Nino’s head. “Go play with yourself-”

“Wow, _phrasing_ ,” Nino said, dodging another breadcrust.

“I’ve got a lot to do tonight,” Marinette sighed, polishing off the last of her pasta and downing it with a gulp of wine. “Did Nath pick up the Miraculous?”

“His errand akuma did,” Nino said, jerking his thumb over his shoulder. “Our job’s done.”

“For now,” Marinette muttered, wiping her mouth with the napkin Nino brought. “You good locking up?”

“Yeah,” Nino said, backing up into the hallway. “Holler if you need anything.”

Nino turned to leave when Marinette said. “Hey…Nino?”

Nino stuck his head back in her room as she turned in her chair to face him, legs crossed underneath an old sweater of his he donated to her sleepwear fund when it got a bleach stain on it. For some reason, the overlarge piece of clothing made her look younger than her twenty-one years, though the uncertain look on her face may have had something to do with that as well.

“Mmhmm?” Nino asked, arms stretching above his head as he hung off the top of the doorframe. For a moment, Marinette’s eyes were drawn to the patch of skin exposed as his shirt rode up on his stomach, shaking her head as she forced herself to look up at her friend and partner.

“Do you…ever regret the choice you made to become Paon?” Marinette asked.

Nino blinked. “I…w-why would I?”

Marinette shrugged helplessly. “Well…you’re halfway around the world, you broke up with your girlfriend, and every day you live under threat of assault by a squad of superweirdoes? Those sound like pretty good reasons to regret the life choices you’ve made, don’t they?”

Nino bit his lip, staring at her with the same kind of analysis and understanding she exhibited when critiquing a particularly complicated piece of fashion. He was about to open his mouth to answer when Marinette let out a small, dismissive laugh.

“I’m just spitballing; forget I mentioned it,” Marinette said, pulling her sketches back out.

“…you sure?” Nino asked with a small frown.

“Yeah…h-hey, if you’re gonna be up, would you mind closing the door on the way out?” Marinette said, shooting him a shaky smile. For a moment, he wanted to press her; ask why she seemed to be holding something back from him. Part of him fought a rising wave of frustration at the fact that she was keeping something from him, but he just offered a small smile and wave as he reached to close the door.

“Don’t work too hard,” Nino said. “And call if you need me.”

He could have sworn the smile fell from her face as the door shut behind him, but he didn’t want to open it to find out. Instead, he stared at her door for a long moment, letting out a small sigh before he traipsed back into the living room, looking to bury his unease in music.

She would come to him, he told himself as he put his headphones on and opened his laptop. She always did in the end.

* * *

As it turned out, Nino was right, but Marinette waited until it was half past one in the morning to come.

At first, he thought it was the distant thunder that woke him, but as Nino blinked, eyes focusing in the dim light of the common-room, he got the unmistakable feeling of being watched. He glanced up, squinting in the dim light reflected from the city as his eyes landed on a figure leaning on the doorway to the hallway, lingering as though she didn’t know if it was worth it to wake him.

“Nette?” Nino mumbled, fumbling around for his glasses on the futon as he squinted at her. She gave a small jump as he said her name, stepping into the light streaming in from the windows almost embarrassedly. He could tell that she was still wearing his sweater, but her bare, freckled legs suggested that was just about the only thing she was wearing. It wasn’t as though he was surprised; living together meant seeing each other in various states of undress and half-dress on occasion.

“You okay?” Nino asked, making sure the thick down quilt he slept under covered his mostly bare legs.

“Didn’t mean to wake you,” Marinette said, shivering a little as her bare feet padded on the hardwood floor. “I just…I couldn’t sleep.”

Sitting up, he felt a chill seep through his tank top as Marinette meandered her way over, looking out the window over the city as she slowly sunk to the futon beside him. She looked almost dazed, blue eyes unfocused as she grabbed a blanket and tugged it over her bare legs. Nino said nothing, scooting to the edge of the futon and waiting for Marinette to say what she had come there to say.

“Looks like it’s gonna be raining all weekend,” Nino said after a moment of silence, glancing across at his partner. “Farmer’s market’s probably gonna get washed out…kind of a shame; I was looking forward to those brisket street tacos they sell at that kosher Mexican food stand…”

Silence lapsed between them again. “They should really get like a food truck or something,” Nino continued. “I’d like to get my fix more than once a-”

“Do you know what today is?” Marinette asked quietly as the slow patter of rain began to strike the windows.

“Saaaaturday?” Nino said, frowning at the clock on the microwave as though trying to piece something together. “November…oh…it’s November 25th.”

He should have realized sooner, but he had been too bogged down with work to notice. It was raining a year before when they first moved in, eating takeout while sitting cross-legged on the futon as they watched the storm brew outside. The apartment was so bare back then; just the basics they would need for a quick retrieval mission before they returned to Paris. It was almost as though they were intentionally making themselves uncomfortable in their home for the longest time; they picked a place without air or heat because, they reasoned, they wouldn’t even be in New York long enough to see the summer.

But here they were a year later, shivering under blankets as they watched another storm blow in, pelting the streets with cold, drizzling rain that seemed to push the end to their mission further and further away.

“Happy Anniversary, I guess,” Nino chuckled, nudging Marinette’s side as she reluctantly laughed, shaking her head as she leaned back on her palms.

“Yeah…happy anniversary,” Marinette said softly, chewing on her lip absentmindedly. “Never thought we’d be spending another Christmas in New York.”

“Maybe Alya and Adrien will blow in again,” Nino suggested.

“I think they’ve got too much on their plate,” Marinette sighed, tucking one leg up to her chin. “…did Alya tell you?”

“About the fact that Adrien’s apartment is a powder keg of sexual and romantic tension ready to explode?” Nino snorted. “Yeah…she called me earlier.”

“Kinda figures,” Marinette said. “Just surprised it didn’t happen sooner…you okay?”

“Fine,” Nino shrugged, glancing across the futon at Marinette. “…you?”

“Fine,” Marinette said.

“Come on, Nette,” Nino sighed, turning to face her. “Something’s eating at you; Alya could tell just by watching you on the news today. Look, I know you liked Adrien for a long time, so-”

“That’s not…” Marinette sighed. “I’m not upset that Alya and Adrien have a thing going on. Honestly, I’m happy that they’re there for each other; at least they’re not…alone, you know?”

Marinette wrapped her arms around her leg thoughtfully, blanket falling aside as Nino shifted a little closer.

“And they like this better than we do,” Marinette said quietly. “Adrien and Alya have always…just loved being superheroes. It’s like a dream come true for them, isn’t it?”

“They were always the flashy ones,” Nino chuckled. “Them and the Bee.”

“Yeah…and even Chloe seems to be doing well in Tokyo,” Marinette said, tucking her other leg under her chin and wrapping her arms around her shins.

“I’m sure even _Bee-senpai_ has her hard days every once and a while,” Nino said, averting his gaze from her pale, freckled thighs now on full display next to him. “…you’re homesick?”

“No…well, not exclusively,” Marinette said, shoulders slumping with a heavy sigh. “It’s just…I don’t know…hard sometimes.”

Nino was quiet as she rocked back and forth a bit, staring straight ahead into the oncoming storm. “I shouldn’t be so down,” Marinette muttered. “I go to a good school…Adrien’s committing some mild fraud to pay me a decent salary for essentially doing nothing…and I really, really like living with you, I do, but I-”

She shook her head, fingers gripping the blanket close to her chest defensively. “I never wanted to be this far from home for so long,” Marinette said at last, shoulders shaking as words spilled out like a waterfall. “I-I never wanted to be stuck in a strange city, trying to keep another supervillain from hurting people for _so long_. I…I wanted to go to school in Paris. I wanted to marry Adrien, and live the kind of life _I_ wanted to live but I…I still have this _responsibility_ that’s been _crushing me_ since I was f-fifteen. And I thought I’d be _done_ with having to be Ladybug; I thought I’d be able to be j-just Marinette for a little while, but these… _fucking_ people had to go and ruin _everything_ again! A-And I don’t know why it always has to be _me_ making the sacrifices, _me_ making the hard calls, _me_ putting what _I_ want aside to do my _duty_ , _me_ being-”

“Hey, hey, hey,” Nino said, wrapping an arm around Marinette’s shaking shoulders, tugging her closer as he felt her tremble next to him. His throat knotted unpleasantly, eyes burning as he found himself understanding Marinette’s struggle more intimately than he thought he ever would. The simple gesture seemed to have a profound effect on Marinette who melted into his touch, turning and wrapping her arms around his chest with a half smothered sob.

“It’s okay,” Nino said softly, smoothing her hair.

“No it’s _not,”_ Marinette growled, fingers bunching in his tank top as she shook her head against his shoulder. “I get…I-I get so _tired_ of all this, Nino. I don’t think it’s ever gonna end or I’m ever gonna have a life that doesn’t revolve around having to drop everything and fight crime on a daily basis. It just… _sucks_ so bad, you know?”

His fingers twined with hers, squeezing them softly as he tried to share whatever strength he had with her. It was so easy for Marinette to get lost in the haze of Ladybug; so easy for Nino to forget that it wasn’t fair of them to act like she was this untouchable beacon of hope that never seemed to falter. How much of her hiding her feelings had been caused by the fact that their team seemed to look up to her, even after all these years of working together as partners?

“Do you feel like you’re alone in this?” Nino asked quietly.

“…sometimes,” Marinette sighed shakily. “And I-I know that isn’t fair to you or Adrien or Alya but-”

“Hey, don’t worry about fair,” Nino said, free hand rubbing the back of her hair. “None of this is fair, you know? I mean…you basically gave up your teenage days trying to keep Paris from falling apart, only to have to turn around and try and keep New York in one piece. Maybe if I’d been doing this for as long as you and Adrien, I’d feel the same way.”

“You still fought though,” Marinette mumbled into his neck. “Maybe not as long as me, but-”

Marinette trailed off as Nino reached up, squishing her cheeks between his thumb and fingers until her lips pursed and fell open.

“Listen,” Nino said softly as a distant rumble of thunder broke the apartment’s silence. “You don’t need to apologize or make excuses for feeling the way you do. And you don’t have to have everything together just because we all seem to think you do. It’s okay to be mad, or homesick, or frustrated, or-”

“I’m not though,” Marinette said quietly, pulling back from Nino’s grip with an expression he couldn’t make out in the dim light.

“Nette, you’re not fooling anyone-”

“No…I mean-” She swallowed heavily, tongue running over her lips as she shifted next to him. For the first time since she came out, Nino was painfully aware of the position they were in and just how little clothing either of them were wearing. “I miss Paris, but…I-I can’t say I’m homesick. Not when I-”

She paused, seemingly looking for the right words to say as she picked at the comforter. “I…don’t think I would have made it this far or this long if we weren’t doing this together.”

“Don’t sell yourself short,” Nino chuckled. “You probably could have had Empress and her froggy friend in a chokehold by Christmas.”

“That’s not what I mean,” Marinette said, shaking her head. “Fighting has never been the problem for me; being Ladybug comes naturally after so many years. It’s just…all the stuff afterwards. I don’t know if I could have done this if I had to come home to an empty house, or eat dinner alone every night, or have no one to just speak _French_ with. And not to mention all the times you kept Arrowhead off my back or pulled me out of a hairy situation or-”

Marinette laughed, thumb brushing over the backs of Nino’s knuckles as she squeezed his hand. “What I mean is that…even though I miss Paris, I can’t say that I’m super homesick because you always make me feel like I’m home when I’m with you.”

The sudden electricity in the room had nothing to do with the brewing thunderstorm outside. In the dim light, he could see her clear, blue eyes looking up at him with expectation that made warmth blossom in his chest and spread to every corner of his body.

“H-Hey, you better be careful saying stuff like that,” Nino laughed, lips running over his dry lips. “Guy might get the wrong impression.”

“What’s the wrong impression?” Marinette asked, chewing on the corner of her lip as her hands slowly ran up his arms. “That you always seem to know exactly what I need? And that I…I want to be exactly what you need too?”

He wondered how long they had been skirting it and when their relationship turned a corner without him realizing. He wondered when the playful hip bumps became more frequent, when the Saturday afternoon movie marathons turned into cuddle-nap sessions, and when it got to the point that they made every excuse to touch one another they could. He thought back to number of “friendly” hugs that lasted a little too long and wondered how it had got to the point where Marinette was half-naked and sitting on his bed before he figured it out.

He hardly dared to believe it, but the look in her eyes left no doubt as to her intentions.

“So…what do you need right now?” Nino said, voice soft as the rain beating against their window and filled with emotion Marinette could happily drown in. Her fingertips traced along the edges of his jaw as her legs seemed to move of their own volition, sliding into his lap as small, almost reverent gasp escaped from his lips. He could feel her bare thighs press against the sides of his hips as her hand ran down the front of his chest. His heartbeat seemed to strain out of his chest under her touch as feelings Nino long thought buried rose with a vengeance inside him.

“What…what do you want to give me?” Marinette murmured, soft and hesitant as thunder rolling across the river. He watched her tongue hesitantly trace her lips, hands chancing to rest on her waist underneath her sweater and nearly jerking back as the tips of his fingers accidentally brushed against the soft cotton waistband of her panties.

For a moment, he froze, waiting for her to climb off, laugh it off, and pretend like she had never crawled into his bed wearing a sweater and a look that longed for any kind of touch, no matter how small.

“Anything,” Nino said hoarsely. “Absolutely any-”

Marinette closed the distance as a distant flash of lightning briefly illuminated the loft. Her lips bumped against Nino’s softly at first, pulling back with a questioning glance that asked if she had gone too far. Nino almost couldn’t believe it happened until it was over and staring at his roommate with wide, stunned eyes almost long enough to make her question what she had done. Before she could move, Nino responded in kind, pressing his lips against her with the same kind of reverent, trembling desire. Her breath tickled his nose as she let out a small gasp, giggling almost nervously as she went for another kiss, first-time jitters melting away as they learned the myriad of ways their lips could melt together. The sweet, minty flavor of Marinette’s toothpaste clashed with the sweet creamy decaf Nino had sampled before bed time, creating a flavor blend neither of them particularly liked but neither of them could get enough of. She shifted in his lap, sweater hiking up until her bare stomach pressed against his, her pink and white panties visible clearly in the dim light from outside. And just when he thought the scene couldn’t get any better, Marinette’s hips rocked, voluntarily or not, against the bulge quickly forming in his briefs.

A stifled groan let itself out of Nino’s lips, startling Marinette into pausing the steady crashing of lips to look down and realize she was pressing herself into Nino’s lap a bit harder than she realized, and as a result, Nino himself was just a bit harder than she realized. She didn’t know if the head from his face was desire or mortification; she _had_ just barged into his sleeping space and threw herself into his lap without so much as asking him first. A slimy tendril of doubt and embarrassment began crawling its way up from Marinette’s stomach, and as she was about to get off him, Nino rested his hands on her hips, licking his lips and ever so slightly grinding up against her. Marinette let out a small sigh, half in relief, half in tense desire as her arms wound around his neck again, lips desperately locking against his.

Perhaps it _was_ just desperation; two people cut off from home and family for so long that the mere act of living together had created something where there would have been nothing before. If they had stayed in Paris, surely he and Alya would still be together; he might never have woken to the sound of Marinette making coffee on Saturday mornings, hair tousled and blue eyes bleary from a long night’s sleep. They might never have shared half-burnt cookies at one in the morning in the middle of a movie marathon, and Marinette might have never known what it was like to see Nino sleep shirtless on the sofa, glasses askew and chest rising and falling slowly. She might have missed coming home to his warm smile, listening to his latest composition as she worked on her homework, or splitting cinnamon rolls with him as they browsed _their_ farmer’s market. Their lives might have been _so_ different if they had just _stayed_ in Paris.

But they crossed the Pacific, landed in each other’s arms, and for the first time in almost a year, Marinette was so very _glad_ they had left home.

As they rocked together, separated by a few scant millimeters of cotton, Marinette grew bolder and bolder. Her hands travelled up Nino’s lean, muscular chest, balling in his tank top and pushing it all the way up off his head. Despite the pressing cold of the apartment, his skin was warm under her touch, pulsing as his hands travelled down her bare back, cupping her thinly clad ass with a small squeeze to see how she would react.

“How…” Nino panted, tearing himself away from Marinette with great reluctance as he looked up at Marinette in the darkness. “How far do you want to take this?”

Marinette bit her lip, stomach fluttering with long unsatisfied desire. “…how far will you let me?” Marinette asked.

“I…don’t think I have a rubber on hand, if that’s what you’re getting at,” Nino muttered with a small laugh. He hadn’t had any interest in hooking up with anyone in New York, but now that he had his gorgeous roommate perched in his lap and practically saying she wanted to ravish him, he really wished he had been more prepared.

“Oh…” Marinette said, said with a small laugh. “Um…o-one minute?”

With a last, lingering kiss, she got off him, turning and traipsing into her room and leaving Nino missing the weight of her on top of him and the warmth of her skin against his. The light flicked on at the end of the hall as the sound of rummaging drawers and muffled curses wafted into the living room. A triumphant cry came as the light flicked off again and Marinette padded back into the living room.

“Got it!” Marinette cried as she ran into a chair in the dark. “Ow!”

“You okay?” Nino asked as Marinette limped around the front of him again. In the light, he could see a roll of foil packets dangling from one hand.

“Stupid chair,” Marinette muttered, tearing off the top and tossing the rest of the roll to one side.

“When’d you get those?” Nino asked.

“Uh…c-couple months ago?” Marinette chuckled, fidgeting with the foil packet a little.

“I never knew you were hooking up on the side,” Nino chuckled. “Unless you expect me to believe you bought those for-”

Nino trailed off as Marinette stayed silent, cheeks darkening another shade as she scratched the back of her head. “I-I mean i-it’s good to just be prepared in case…w-well, you know.”

Blinking, Nino settled back on his hands as he stared almost dumbstruck at the woman in front of him. “Just…how long have you wanted to jump my bones?”

“It’s not like that!” Marinette groaned, burying her face in her hands. “I just…wanted to be prepared in case I was making out with a guy at two in the morning and he didn’t have a condom, you know?”

“Well, thank God one of us is responsible,” Nino chuckled, taking the wrapper from her and turning it over in his hands. “You…still wanna do this?”

“Yeah, let me just…” Marinette reached under the hem of her sweater, hips wiggling as she tugged her panties off and kicked them to the side. Instinctively, her hands tugged down the front of the sweater as she climbed back onto Nino’s lap. “Okay, l-let’s do this.”

“Hang on,” Nino said, effortlessly rolling her over until she lay on her back, sweater tucked firmly between her legs with both hands as she looked up at him. “Slow down there, babe…let’s take it slow.”

The word babe, wrapped in affection and drenched in desire, set Marinette’s heart pounding in her chest harder than it had been before. Laying back against his pillows, she watched him saddle up beside her, hand taking the hem of her sweater and slowly inching it up. Her legs stayed pressed together almost shyly, as though Marinette was worried he wouldn’t like what he saw. The light streaming in from the windows provided enough illumination to light up her pale, freckled skin as Nino tugged her sweater up and over her head. As it cleared her hair, Marinette’s hands instinctively covered her chest, earning a throaty chuckle from Nino.

“You embarrassed?” Nino asked, finger trailing up her stomach to the tips of her hands cupping her breasts. “S’cool; I haven’t exactly been on my game for a while.”

“Yeah…something like that,” Marinette said, letting her hands fall to the bed at her sides. She flushed at the small gasp that escaped Nino’s lips, breath hitching as his hand slowly slid up her chest and cupped one of her breasts almost reverently.

“Beautiful,” he murmured.

“Oh shush,” Marinette giggled, biting her lip as Nino’s other hand cupped her other breast.

“You shush,” Nino insisted, leaning down and kissing Marinette’s neck. “You’re beautiful.”

Marinette found it hard to argue with that when the way Nino’s hands moved across her made her feel as radiant as he claimed she was. Exploratory touches soon took on more meaning as he seemed to be looking for the ways his hands could make her composure crack. Every gasp, sigh, and giggle was carefully catalogued in Nino’s mind under Spots to Touch Marinette That Make Her Make Impossibly Sexy Noises. He bent down and kissed her neck, nibbling at her ear as one hand slid down her stomach towards her pressed together thighs.

“May I?” He asked quietly. Wordlessly, she nodded, legs splaying open and eyes closing as she laid back against the pillows.

“Yeah…do whatever you-ahh!” Marinette gasped as his fingers brushed across her aching clit, lips kissing their way down until they came to rest on one of her breasts. Whimpering, her hands gripped the sheets as Nino’s tongue lapped hungrily at her nipple, massaging her with one hand as his fingers stroked her beneath her dark blue curls.

“Y-You’ve done this before, haven’t you?” Marinette laughed, panting as Nino’s fingers teased her wet, trembling lips.

“Once or twice,” Nino murmured. It was more than that, but Nino figured it wasn’t good etiquette to talk about past lovers while in bed with his…friend? Girlfriend? Friend with benefits? Didn’t matter; if this was going to be his one and only chance to sleep with Marinette, he was going to do his damndest to make it a night neither of them were going to forget.

Finger poised to slide into her, Nino’s concentration was broken as Marinette’s hand reached down, cupping his length through his briefs and giving it a small squeeze. Nino let out a small whimper, glancing up at Marinette who was looking down at him curiously.

“Do you mind?” Marinette asked softly.

“N-No, go ahead,” Nino said, suppressing a small groan as her fingertips slipped underneath the waistband of his briefs. “Just so you know, I don’t exactly need a lot of warming up.”

“Clearly,” Marinette chuckled, fingers lightly squeezing his head as she tugged his boxers down in the front. “…yikes.”

“Something wrong?”

“N-No!” Marinette stammered. “Just…really hope this condom fits.”

“You and me both,” Nino murmured, lips smothering another moan as his fingers slowly dipped inside her. He felt her twitch around him, legs parting subconsciously as her fingers began to clumsily move up and down his shaft. They didn’t seem to be paying too much attention to what was happening beneath the comforter, instead devoting their attention to the way their lips, tongues, and teeth clumsily bumped together in the darkened apartment. The only sounds that could be heard over the oncoming storm were needy gasps, soft moans, and breathless panting as they took their time with one another, fingers tentatively roaming over each other’s bodies. They seemed to know that, whatever came next, they would never touch one another for the first time again, and they wanted to savor the moment.

“You have me at a disadvantage here,” Marinette muttered quietly between kisses, hips arching into Nino’s touch as her fingers tugged at his briefs. “You want to join me?”

“Might as well,” Nino said, wiggling out of his underwear the best he could without breaking lip contact. It took him a few tries, something that seemed to amuse Marinette to no end before he gave up, rolling over on his back and finally kicking his briefs off to a dark corner of the apartment. The chill began to seep in for a moment before Marinette crawled over, wet lips pressing against the underside of his shaft as she leaned down, smothering him with another kiss that took his breath away. His hands roamed up and down her back, settling on her hips for a few kisses before chancing to slip a little bit lower. Another infectious giggle broke Marinette’s lips as she looked over her shoulder at his hands tentatively squeezing her butt.

“Too soon?” Nino asked, sighing as Marinette’s hips rocked forward, applying more pressure to his aching cock.

“Why do you think I got off my back?” Marinette chuckled, teeth nipping at his lower lip as she kissed him again. Her hips ground against his insistently as they moved past their curiosity and diving headlong into passionate, needy kissing. Her fingers ran down his chest as he squeezed any part of her he could lay his hands on, tenderly massaging her thighs, breasts, and butt as her tongue snaked hungrily into his mouth. What took him off guard the most was how _eager_ she seemed to be; how she seemed to savor each kiss like it was the last drop of sweet wine. Any doubts that this affection was one-sided broke down with each kiss, touch, and maddening rock of her hips.

“Mmmnh, Mari,” Nino panted, arching away from her as her lips brushed the tip of his cock. “B-Babe, you’re gonna kill me if you keep doing that.”

“Sorry,” Marinette muttered. “…that was a lie; I’m really not.”

“Tease,” Nino chuckled.

“You’re the tease,” Marinette insisted, cupping the sides of his face as she wiggled on top of him. “What do you call sleeping in your underwear all summer, hm?”

“What do you call walking around in your underwear all summer?” Nino countered.

“I call it fair play,” Marinette said, resuming her hip wiggling and savoring the small groan that bubbled up from Nino’s throat. “Maybe give you a taste of your own medi- _eep!”_

Marinette suddenly found herself laying on her back, staring up at the ceiling as Nino knelt between her legs.

“Oh really?” Nino asked, tongue snaking across his lips. “Because I think I’d rather have a taste of _yours.”_

Marinette was about to ask what he meant, but the way he shimmied down the futon, lips leaving a trail of kisses on her trembling stomach left no doubt as to his intentions. Her fingers gripped the sheets, gasping as she felt his tongue lap tentatively across her warm, wet folds.

“You good?” He asked

“Good,” she sighed, sheets twisting in her fingers as her eyes fluttered shut, taking in the sound of falling rain, the smell of Nino’s shampoo on his sheets, and the sensation of being so eagerly _devoured_ by her friend and partner.

She would have been lying if she said that this exact scenario hadn’t crossed her mind a few times when the nights seemed to be too long and too lonely to pass by herself. Once or twice, she even considered crawling into bed with him, but ultimately returned to her own room, satisfying herself with fantasies and pretending the fingers that brought her to shuddering climax belonged to someone else. But for once, she was pleased at her own lack of imagination, as the sensation of Nino’s mouth on her skin proved to be more maddeningly arousing than she ever could have imagined.

“Mmmgh, _fuck_ ,” Marinette rasped, thighs reflexively squeezing her partner’s head as another jolt of pleasure shot through her. Her hips twisted, nearly headscissoring him across the apartment, but he held on, crawling up on the bed with Marinette’s legs draped over his shoulders.

“Language, miss,” Nino chuckled, heart skipping a beat as Marinette stuck her tongue out at him. “What would the public say if they knew Ladybug had such a naughty mouth?”

“I didn’t… _yeah, right there…_ know you spent so much time thinking about my mouth,” Marinette chuckled, teeth chewing on her lower lip as she waggled her eyebrows up at him.

“You know, I think Adrien may have rubbed off on you more than you think,” Nino chuckled as her legs squeezed his cheeks even tighter. “You trying to pop my head off over here?”

“Sorry,” Marinette panted, flush against his pillows and flushed from face to chest. “I just…I really want this right now.”

“I can tell.”

“No, I-I really want this _right now_ ,” Marinette clarified, hips wiggling reflexively.

“What’s the magic word?” Nino purred.

“ _Nino!”_ Marinette whined, gripping the sheets even tighter. “C-Come on, don’t make me say it.”

“You know, I’m starting to think I kinda _want_ to hear you say it,” Nino said, squeezing her thighs as she let out a small, frustrated groan. “I mean, if all you want is a little lip service, I get it, but if you want something else-”

Nino trailed off, tongue hanging out his mouth as Marinette clenched her legs around his head, dragging him down and pushing herself up off the bed until they were practically eye to eye.

“What I _want_ ,” Marinette panted, licking her lips. “Is for you to stop fooling around and _fuck me_ so that I feel it in the morning.”

“…w-well, if you insist,” Nino said, letting her back down on the bed as he fumbled around for the wrapper. “Is this a bad time to tell you that you’re hot when you swear?”

“I’m only sad that no one told me before,” Marinette said, watching Nino fumble with the foil packet as she tucked a pillow behind her head. She heard a small rip of foil as Nino paused, frowning down at the open condom wrapper. “Something wrong?”

In answer, Nino pulled the latex circle that glowed bright blue in the dim apartment light.

“Oh my _god_ ,” Marinette moaned, burying her face in her hands.

“So, do you wanna do like some Star Wars roleplay or-”

“ _I didn’t know they were glow in the dark!”_ Marinette insisted.

“You want to pretend to be a sexy Tuskan Raider and I can be Anakin looking to impale you with my-”

“Nino, I swear to _god!_ ” Marinette peeked through her fingers to see his fully erect length outlined in soft, glowing blue light. “…oh my _god_.”

“Hey, as long as this doesn’t make my dick fall off, this is the only kind of condom I’m using from now on,” Nino chuckled, hands sliding up Marinette’s thighs as they seemed to recover from their momentary lapse in focus. His thumbs rubbed small circles on her legs as he parted them, glancing back up at her as he slid into position. “Any requests position-wise?”

“Well,” Marinette said, hands trailing up his arms as she looked up at him. “…how do you want me?”

The short answer was _every_ way; any way that she would let him. If he had a hundred years with her, he would never have the time to touch her in all the ways he wanted to touch her, and he wasn’t even sure she would let this happen a second time.

“Uh…I mean…if you’re asking me…” Nino chuckled, scratching his cheek. “Could you…maybe roll over?”

“Oh, thank god,” Marinette chuckled, shuffling underneath him. “As pretty as you are to look at, you’re a little…distracting with that thing on.”

“Hey, you bought em,” Nino said, lightly smacking Marinette on her ass as she rolled over, tucking a pillow under her hips as she looked back at him with a small smile.

“Sorry,” Marinette said, fingers gripping the sheets as she felt his tip brush against her from behind. “I-I just want this to be kinda…special, you know?”

“Yeah,” Nino said, leaning down to press a kiss against base of her neck. “I really do.”

Hands gripping her hips, he pressed forward, savoring the heavy breathing and the way her perky little ass wiggled as he slowly pushed his way into her. A low, soft, moan slipped out of his lips the further he slid into her, their usual banter evaporating in the face of experiencing something they both wanted but neither of them were fully prepared for. It was funny that a few hours earlier they were carrying on as they always had; just two roommates, homesick and just trying to make it through another day. But as Nino slid inside her, they felt something between them snap, the thread of their friendship twisting in the wind as they were forced to confront a new and wonderful sense of normal.

“T-Tell me you’re all the way in,” Marinette sighed, teeth chewing on the corner of the pillowcase as she felt him fill every inch of her.

“Just about,” Nino panted, gasping as he felt her squeeze just enough to make his legs feel wobbly. “ _Fuck,_ Mari...”

“Th-that’s my line,” Marinette sighed, suppressing a small squeak as she felt his hips finally made contact with her ass. “Mmnh…you feel good.”

“That’s _my_ line,” Nino panted, leaning forward and bracing himself, one hand on either side of her shoulders. “Y-You good?”

“Mmhmm,” Marinette said, wiggling her hips in a way that drove Nino absolutely mad. “Ready when you are.”

With a soft kiss against the back of her neck, he slowly moved back, savoring the sigh that slipped out of her lips for a moment before he rocked forward again. He was moving slow, more out of necessity than choice since being with Marinette made him feel like a trembling virgin all over again. In spite of her earlier request, Marinette seemed to be at a loss for words now, one hand dipped between her legs as the other clenched the pillow for support.

“L-Let me,” Nino panted, hand reaching around her hips and brushing her fingers aside. The pillowcase fell out of Marinette’s mouth with a gasp as she felt his fingers press against her aching clit, stroking her in time to thrusts carefully measured to ensure she felt every inch of him inside her before he pulled back out. There was such a stark difference between Nino and her usual bedtime companion, not the least of which was the fact that Nino didn’t require batteries to operate. But toys didn’t nibble her earlobe, caress her breasts, or let out barely restrained sounds of pleasure with every thrust. Her usual collection of toys didn’t have fingers that seemed to be hellbent on dissolving her into a puddle with each probing touch, or make her grateful that their neighbors were legally deaf. With every passing thrust, kiss, and pass of his fingers, Marinette’s composure slipped another notch, until she could barely take it any longer.

“H-Hang on,” Marinette panted, taking advantage of Nino’s pause to slip loose, roll over, and tug Nino down for a hungry kiss. “I changed my mind…I think I want to look at you.”

“So the glow-dick isn’t turning you off?” Nino laughed.

“Not when it’s all the way up inside me,” Marinette said, kissing the tip of his nose. “Besides…your eyes are _much_ more captivating.”

“…god damn, Adrien really rubbed off on you, didn’t he?” Nino sighed, succumbing to another kiss as he slid back into Marinette, parting her legs as she snaked her arms around her neck. The thrusts came shorter in their new position, but Marinette found the chance to make out with her partner while he fucked her to be a tradeoff well-worth it. The lip contact seemed to only drive Nino on as her hips bucked hard against his, and soon the crash of thunder outside was drowned out by needy gasps, moans, and feverish whispers of each other’s names. Nino’s hand cupped the back of Marinette’s head as her legs wrapped around the small of his back, pulling him further in as her chest hitched with every breath.

The lack of heating in the apartment suddenly didn’t seem to be a problem as they became slowly more absorbed with each other, caring for nothing that didn’t involve the increasing rhythm with which they crashed together. Between her legs, she could feel Nino trembling, hands splayed on his chest as his heart threatened to burst from his chest.

“Ah…babe, I-I’m getting close,” Nino panted, practically purring as Marinette pressed a kiss against his cheek.

“Don’t hold back,” Marinette murmured, biting her lip. “Don’t hold-”

Beneath him, he felt Marinette gasp, her legs tightening around his waist as she gripped with a sudden convulsion that pushed him over the edge. Amidst the chorus of Marinette’s breathless, panting oaths, Nino came, trembling and breathing Marinette’s name against her flushed, sweaty skin. And as soon as it began, it was over, the pair collapsing against the futon breathlessly, heads resting on the same pillow as they struggled to catch their breaths.

“Well…that’s one way to celebrate an anniversary,” Nino panted, earning a small chuckle from his partner.

“Funnily enough, Chat and I didn’t celebrate our first anniversary by losing our virginities to each other,” Marinette said, resting on his shoulder as she tugged a small throw blanked up over them.

“Yeah…wait,” Nanino glanced down with a small frown. “…how long has it been since your last?”

“Uhh…twenty-one years, eleven months, aaaaand ten days?” Marinette said with a sheepish grin.

“…oh,” Nino trailed off, blinking as Marinette cuddled up to him.

“I didn’t want you to put on airs for my sake,” Marinette laughed, kissing his cheek. “Relax; you were perfectly lovely.”

“Uh…you too?” Nino said.

“I’m sure I’ll get better with practice,” Marinette said, glancing up at him. “If that’s…something you’d be interested in helping me with.”

“You really have to ask?” Nino chuckled, arm wrapping around her waist.

“I _did_ kinda pounce on you after all,” Marinette said, tracing a pattern on his bare chest with her finger. “Just wanted to…you know…see if this was something you were still good with.”

“Yeah…I’m good if you are,” Nino said softly.

“Good…then we’re good,” Marinette nodded. “That’s-”

“Good,” Nino chuckled, pressing a kiss against her forehead as the storm seemed to abate outside. “Hey…I think the rain’s letting up.”

“Yeah…should be clear enough for the farmer’s market tomorrow,” Marinette mused. “Might be able to hit the fruit stands before they get too crowded.”

“Mmm,” Nino agreed, glancing down at her. They locked eyes for a brief moment before trailing off into warm, sleepy giggles.

“Are we… _seriously_ talking about the farmer’s market right now?” Marinette chuckled.

“Hey, you know how grouchy I get if I don’t have my cinnamon rolls,” Nino said, brushing Marinette’s hair out of her face. “I look forward to those all week.”

“You’re not the only one; I think Mama Giuseppe’s Bakery is the closest thing to Papa’s sweets I’ve found since we’ve been here,” Marinette said.

“So…I mean, I know we do it every weekend but…” Nino trailed off, scratching the back of his head. “Do you want to…maybe make it…like…”

“A date?” Marinette supplied with a small laugh, kissing him softly on the cheek. “Aren’t you supposed to take me out _before_ you bed me?”

“Maybe I’m just that good,” Nino chuckled, returning the kiss as a small thrill ran through him. “I mean, you _did_ crawl half-naked into my bed.”

“After twelve months of living together,” Marinette murmured. “Truly, you are a Casanova.”

“S’long as you admit it,” Nino said, settling down into the blankets as a warm wave washed over him. Outside the rain slowed to a gentle patter on the window, and the light of the distant moon competed against the vibrant skyline shimmering in the distance. He managed to wrap a blanked around the two of them and give Marinette one, sleepy kiss on the forehead, before drifting off into a warm, comfortable sleep.

* * *

_“…okay?”_

“Yeah, I just…wanted to keep you in the loop,” Nino said, shoving his free hand in his pocket as a cool autumn breeze bit at his exposed skin. A ways away, Marinette stood in line for a nearby coffee booth, rocking back and forth on her heels as she waited for their drinks. She caught his eye after a few moments, offering him a wave through the crowd as Nino tried to keep the massive pecan-covered cinnamon roll from getting jostled out of his hand as he made his way over to her.

“ _Well, uh…thanks?”_ Adrien said with a small laugh. “ _Honestly though, I’m surprised it didn’t happen sooner.”_

“Yeah?”

 _“Yeah…I mean…you two would be good together,”_ Adrien said softly. “ _So…I’m glad you are.”_

“I don’t know if you could say we’re like _together-together_ -”

“ _Well…sounds like she wants that,”_ Adrien said as Marinette started walking over, taking a sip of her drink and getting a small swathe of whipped cream stuck on her lip.

“Yeah…I think I do too,” Nino said with a small smile. “Oh, almost forgot to ask, how’d the gala with Alya go?”

* * *

“Oh, the…gala?” Adrien said, sitting up as Alya slid out of bed, sheet trailing behind her as she made her way towards the bathroom. For a moment he watched her go, watching the cotton sheet slid off her body until it crumpled on the floor at her feet. She ran a hand through her frizzy bedhead, shooting him a sleepy smile over her shoulder as she padded into the bathroom.

“Oh, yeah, it went…” Adrien said, licking his lips as he heard the shower turn on. “Uh…you know, I’m gonna have to call you back.”


End file.
